Tron: Resurrection
by Muldoon22
Summary: Alan Bradley is transmitted into The Grid, leaving Sam Flynn and Quorra to assemble a squad to return with them and get him back.
1. Digitized

Here is a quick overview of the story:

Plot: 6 months after the events of _Tron: Legacy_, Sam Flynn has brought Quorra to the real world and appointed Alan Bradley as the new CEO of ENCOM. But when Ed Dillinger Jr. designs an updated version of the _Tron _program and Bradley is transported into it, Sam must assemble a rescue to get Bradley back while trying to survive the severely violent conditions of the updated world.

Characters: Sam Flynn/Drog

Quorra/Leanne Hendrix

Alan Bradley/Tron

Ed Dillinger Jr./Nurad

Steven Pepper/Koba

Lyle Grover/Skreet

Justin Averson/Brode

Chloe Norton/Eaeda

Trey Wandlo/Trey

Sark

Master Control Program (MCP)

It's been 6 months since Sam Flynn and Quorra left the Grid. 6 months since Kevin Flynn absorbed his counterpart and perished in the process. Sam had re-taken ENCOM and implanted Alan Bradley into the CEO position.

**September 17, 2010**

Edward Dillinger Jr. was working late in his office cubicle. He was part of the expansion project on the TRON project that Alan had set up to upgrade the program and release it as an international downloadable computer game

**Enter Codename**

**Codename: Nurad**

**Accessing Prototype: Project TRON**

**Codenumber 74001258**

**Access Point: Graft Tron**

**Outscapes**

Alan Bradley rounded the corner and entered Ed's cubicle.

"Evening, Junior." he greeted.

Ed glanced at his watch. "More like morning."

Alan checked his own: 1:46 A.M.

"Geez, lost track of time fast. Is that the-"

"Yep, I'm currently constructing the Outer Landscapes. Which would mean that we would have to delay the launch by roughly 24 hours."

"That's not too bad. Mind if I have a look?"

Ed gestured to a seat next to his own. Alan slid into it.

"The last time I looked at this program, Kevin Flynn himself was designing it."

"It's been in development for that long, huh?" Ed asked as he continued punching numbers.

"What is this program here?" Alan asked, pointing to a file named MCPTRANSPORT66.

"That is the Master Control Program. It would act as a sort of backup."

Ed, absently mindedly adding codes, clicked on the file, activating a laser behind them.

Ed then stopped typing, cracked his fingers and said "once I hit Enter, the landscapes will be done and the progress past the 50% mark."

"Make it so." Alan jokingly quipped.

Ed chuckled a little and hit Enter.

The laser began emitting and aimed right at Alan.

"What's happening?"

"I-I don't know." a visibly confused Ed said standing up to examine it.

Once he reached it, the laser charged up and sent a beam directed at Alan. It began chipping him away and he was soon gone. The laser then shut off.

"Alan?" Ed called.

Silence lingered. Ed immediately picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"Yes, Sam? It's Ed. You need to get to ENCOM fast. Something's happened."


	2. No Other Option

Sam had been busy in the 6 months after leaving the Grid. He had re-taken control of his father's empire, EMCOM, a decision that was not too agreeable with the board members. He implanted his father's friend Alan in charge and fired a majority of the board. He had taken mercy on Edward Dillinger Jr. and a few others, but the new board members consisted of those determined to run the company the way Kevin Flynn would have. Sam had also inherited most of his father's assets, including the arcade (which he was re-opening) and his childhood home, which he had moved himself and Quorra into. Speaking of Quorra…

She had adjusted to her new life with quite ease. She absorbed the information Sam taught her like an eager schoolgirl would on the first day of school. He had to hand it to his father, he gave her hundreds of years of knowledge. But Sam had an additional 20 years of real world history on his father. The only thing Quorra struggled with was learning to drive. Countless times Sam had to pay off speeding tickets or bail her out of jail for reckless driving. She voluntarily chose to stop until she was more accustomed with the more slower way of driving.

Upon exiting the Grid, she had become a citizen of the world, so she would need identification. Sam told her that Quorra wasn't exactly a common name, so on paper she had become Leanne Hendrix, though Sam still called her Quorra.

Though being in a world surrounding by people who feel they need to change how they look, Quorra had not changed a bit. She still maintained her aggressive, yet playful personality she had in the Grid, and didn't change her appearance, aside from her attire. Sam was pretty happy with that fact, as he didn't want Quorra to lose herself in this new world.

Quorra also became an inexpendable companion for Sam. Marvin had died in the months they had come back, so having Quorra around was quite comforting. She would regale him with some stories about his father and what he taught her about the real world.

They had been relaxing on this particular night, Sam watching some television, Quorra sitting near him, when out of nowhere:

"Sam, am I an inconvenience to you?"

"What?" Sam asked, putting the TV on mute.

"Inconvenience. It means to be bothersome. Am I that to you?"

"Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well, you had to do a lot just to accommodate me. I could easily-"

"Quorra, stop talking like that. Life for me has actually been bearable and better with you around. Alright?"

Quorra smiled lightly. "Alright."

Sam smiled too. The phone rang and he went to answer it. "Hello? Hey, Ed, what's up? Come in? It's past 1 in the morning, can't it-" Quorra saw him nod a few times in answer. "Ok, if it's that urgent, I'll be there in a half hour." he hung up and headed for the door. Quorra got up and walked over to him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"ENCOM. Something urgent has come up. You'll be fine here, right?"

"Actually, could I possibly come with you? It's lonely here at night without you."

Sam thought for a moment. All of the learning and adjusting she's accomplished, she still feels insecure by herself.

"Ok. But hurry, though. Ed gets impatient after awhile."

"Quorra slid on her boots and grabbed her jacket, following Sam out of the front door.

They arrived at ENCOM 45 minutes later. Sam got off the Ducati and helped Quorra off. She was looking up at the moon in admiration. She still found both the sun and the moon fascinating, considering she never saw either in her whole life while in the Grid.

Sam opened the plate-glass door and waited for the security desk to beep them in. They headed for the elevator and Sam pressed the button for the top floor. Quorra used to semi-panic when the metal doors closed, but now she grasped the concept of these "updated" elevators as she referred to them as. Sam thought of it the other way round.

The doors opened to a pacing Ed Dillinger Jr., waiting for them.

"Sam, good. Hi, Leanne." he said hurriedly. "I thought you said half an hour."

"Late-night traffic. Unavoidable." he replied. "So what's this urgent problem?"

Ed nodded and guided the pair to his work area. "See, I was working on the TRON program Alan commissioned-

"TRON program?" Sam asked, a bit confused.

"Oh, an update on the original game, but more interactive, with various multiplayer options. Basically a Steam game. Anyway, I was showing him the models of the landscapes when the MCP was activated and well-, he went in."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "He went in? What do you mean?"

"See that laser?"

"Yeah."

"It aimed right at him and put him in the game."

Quorra's eyes widened and whispered to Sam. "He's on the Grid."

Sam's glance shot back to Ed. "He's in the game?"

"Yes. I don't know how the MCP did it, but it put him in the system."

Sam stared at the computer screen in disbelief. Quorra tapped him lightly on the shoulder and he turned to look at her. "Yes, Quor-Leanne?"

"Can I talk to you a minute?"

Sam nodded and looked towards Ed. "Give me a minute."

"Ok."

Sam followed Quorra around the corner to a separate cubicle. "Sam, has your friend been on the Grid before?"

"I don't know, but he knows about it. He and my dad talked alot about it in the past."

"But this isn't the past, the Grid has changed, probably more than when we were there."

"I know, but there's no other way to go about this. I have to go back in."

Quorra's eyes matched his squarely. "Not by yourself."

"Quorra, I don't want any harm to come to you, out here, you're-"

"Sam, there's not going to be a discussion. I'm coming with you."

Sam nodded in defeat. "I can never win with you."

Quorra smiled and they headed back over to Ed.

"Ed, who are the main people who have worked on this prototype?"

Ed thought for a moment. "I'd have to pull up a list."

"Just the main people. Landscaping, building design, location, character behaviour."

"Well, I'm the main landscape designer, and there's Steve Pepper, Chloe Norton-"

"Ok, get them here."

"Now, why?"

"Because. We're going in after him." Sam replied and walked out of the cubicle, leaving Ed in shock.


	3. Into the Grid

Trey Wandlo stepped out of the elevator, taking note of the unhappy look on Ed Dillinger Jr.'s face.

"So glad you could grace us with your presence." Ed said, sarcastically.

"Eh, traffic, what can you do?"

"You live literally three blocks away and it took you an hour to get here."

Trey shrugged, uninterested. "So why did you drag me to work at 2 AM?"

Ed rolled his eyes and guided him over to where the others stood. Justin Averson, Chloe Norton, Steven Pepper and Lyle Grover were already there.

"Trey Wandlo, lead structure architect. He designed location and building arrangements. In essence, he knows where everything is."

Sam nodded in greeting at him.

"Well, anyone gonna tell me why I'm here?" Trey asked, rather annoyed.

"Mr. Bradley was transmitted into the game." Chloe chirped in.

Trey chuckled. "No, seriously."

"Seriously." Lyle replied.

The humoured look dropped from his face. He looked towards the computer. "No way. How?"

"I don't know." Lyle replied. "Ed hasn't disclosed too much yet."

"Now's a good a time as any." Trey said.

Ed sighed. "When the MCP activated, it triggered that laser back there and transmitted him into the system."

"MCP? You installed an MCP into the game?" Steven asked, distraught.

"What's the problem? What does it mean?" Sam asked.

Ed didn't answer straight away. "Well?" Sam pressed.

Ed sighed. "It stands for Master Control Program."

A few gasps emitted from the group. Most notably Quorra.

"Master Flynn spoke of the Master Control Program. It enslaved programs in the system and forced them to play games for survival, to demonstrate it's dominance." she whispered to Sam.

Sam shot a confused glance towards Ed. "So why was an MCP installed in the first place?"

Ed shifted in his place, uncomfortable. "It was installed to crash the system from within."

Sam walked right towards him. "So, a coup."

"Not necessarily. My father was once CEO of this place. He wanted me to show it's flaws and make you look bad. He would be re-instated and ENCOM would reclaim the dominance it had 30 years ago."

Sam looked as if he was about to knock Ed's light out. But he restrained himself.

"Ok, here's the plan. We go in, find Bradley and shut this Program down."

"Impossible. The MCP is artificial intelligence." Justin informed.

"And?" Sam questioned.

"It means it has a mind of it's own. The only way to stop it is to destroy it manually."

"Then that's what we'll have to do." He turned back to Ed.

"Get this set up to send us all in. I'll deal with you later."

Ed nodded. "The testing room will be suitable. It will be isolated."

"Good." Sam headed towards the bathroom, with Quorra in tow.

"Sam, when we go in, it won't be the same Grid as last time."

Sam nodded in acknowledgement. "Then I guess we'll need a little more back-up." He unhooked the memory card from around his neck and held it out to Quorra.

"Tron?" she asked.

Sam simply offered a faint smile.

20 minutes later, the group was seated in the ENCOM testing room. Ed locked it from the inside so no one could get in. While he wasn't looking, Sam slipped the memory card into the setup computer. At least now there will be some familiarity.

"Ok." Ed said, sitting down. "The system is up and ready. I hope everyone else is."

He looked around at the mixture of determined and nervous looks from the group surrounding him.

"In the system, you'll be known by your usernames, so it may cause the MCP confusion on the matter of users coming in. Everyone except Trey, who's username is Trey."

"It's easy to remember." He lazily defended.

"What about the mirror in front of the laser?" Chloe asked.

"It will split the laser's beam into 8 different streams, hitting us all."

Chloe nodded in acknowledgement.

"I have activated the portal in the game, and I adjusted it to stay opened for a period of 9 hours. Plenty of time. We complete our objectives and get right to there."

Sam looked at him. "No funny stuff."

Ed turned back to the computer. "Transmission in 5, 4,"

Quorra turned to Sam and grabbed onto his hand.

"_3, 2,_"

Sam gave her a re-assuring smile.

"_1_."

The laser activated and pulsated into the mirror. Like Ed said, the laser split and shot off towards the group of 8. Soon the room was full of light and second later it was empty.

They were in the system.


	4. A Group Divided

The transition into the game system was a smooth one. Normally people would think it to be a painful journey, but it almost feels as if it isn't happening.

They appeared on a piece of flatland overlooking a vast computerized metropolis. Sam took note of the new layout. He turned to Quorra, who let out a small gasp of amazement. Though this new system wasn't the same as the one his father constructed, but at least some familiar elements were injected into it.

"Ok, if I'm right, we are currently in the Wastelands." Trey announced, looking around at the map he had helped design.

"Don't you mean Outlands?" a confused Quorra asked."Outlands? No." Trey responded.

"But they were-" Quorra began before Sam cut her off.

"Remember. The game has changed." he whispered. Quorra fell silent.

"As a character developer, I can only assume Alan would not seek a hiding place out here in the Wastelands." Steven said.

Trey whirled around. "What do you mean? The wastelands house numerous caves. It's the perfect place to hide."

Steven shook his head in disagreement. "The game is designed to have the character be flushed out. This is too much of an open area, he'd be caught instantaneously. The best place to hide is out in the open. In Circuit City."

Sam attempted to stifle a chuckle. "Circuit City? A bit cheesy, don't you think?"

"I say we divide into groups." Ed suggested. "Half of us go to the city, scout that out. The other half check out the Wastelands."

"No." Sam firmly said. "This system is extremely volatile, we can not risk losing one another."

"But-"

"We stay together. End of discussion." Sam headed over to the flatland's rocky edge. "Look's like our only way down. Any volunteers to go first?"

Quorra sped past the group and backflipped off the edge, landing on her feet. She looked back up and waved at the others.

Sam looked back at the group. "well, there's our answer." He leapt down the side and grabbed onto the edge, climbing down.

Trey shook his head and turned to Lyle. "You couldn't add any stairs out here?"

The rest of the group slowly walked towards the side and began climbing down.

Deep within the Grid, a program trudged into a big, open room containing a colossal program within the room.

"I have detected the presence of eight real world users." it spoke. "They thought they could fool me."

"Do you wish me to capture them?" the program asked.

"Yes, bring them to me, so I may dispose of them. Our system must be cleansed of users."

"As you wish, all mighty control program." the program said before turning to walk out.

"I detect sarcasm in your voice." the MCP announced.

"I assure you there was none."

"You should hope not. You should show respect to the program that re-activated you, Sark."

Sark nodded and exited. Outside of the room stood 10 programs.

"Bring the users to me, so our mighty overlord can pass judgment onto them."

The programs turned and ran out of the building and activated light cycles, racing off to the Wastelands.

Sark remained where he stood, grinning to himself.

"Users." he scoffed, before turning back into the room.

The group of users were walking down the path they climbed down to when Chloe stopped dead in her tracks.

"Do you hear something?" she questioned.

The others stopped to listen as well.

"It's like a revving sound." Lyle pointed out.

"Like light cycles." Quorra said.

"It's getting closer." Trey said, his voice rising in fear.

Suddenly, the convoy of light cycles converged on them.

"We got ourselves some bogies!" Steven said, diving behind a set of rocks.

"Sam!" Quorra exclaimed, pulling Sam off the road as the programs surrounded them.

"What do we do?" Lyle shouted, as Sam removed his identity disc. They watched as he hurled it at one of the attacking programs, striking it in the back and causing it to derezz. Quorra soon followed suit, snapping back into her fighting form.

"Well? Do we have to do all the work?" he asked. The others cowering behind the rocks emerged and removed their identity discs.

The attacking programs were equipped with a special type of weapon known as a Striker. It sent a pulsing wave of energy towards it's prey and paralyzes his movements temporarily. Long enough to capture it's victim.

One of the programs zapped Trey with the Striker, causing him to crumple to the ground, paralyzed. The program scooped him up and raced away.

Ed was being pinned down by one of the programs, but Steven hurled his disc at it and derezzed it.

"I think I can get used to this!" he exclaimed.

Sam was knocked on the head, causing him to fall over. The program went to gather him up, but Quorra intervened. She derezzed it and went to aid Sam.

One of the programs shot at her and struck her in the chest. She crumpled over and laid stiff.

"Quorra." Sam said, crawling over to her. The program raced over and scooped her up.

Sam stood up. "Put her down." he said, as the program raced off with the paralyzed Quorra.

"No!" he shouted, lobbing his I-Disc after the program. It missed and returned to him.

Chloe derezzed the last of the programs as Sam returned to the group.

"That's the last of them." she gasped, worn out from the duel.

Ed, Justin, Chloe, Steven and Lyle were the remnants of the disbanded group.

"One of them took off with Trey." Justin said.

"It looks like they got Leanne too." Ed added.

Sam snapped and lunged at Ed, tackling him to the ground, choking him.

"They knew! They knew we were here! You told them, didn't you?"

"No!" Ed choked, struggling for breath. Lyle and Justin pulled Sam off him. Ed scampered to a distance away from Sam.

"And now they got her! They took Quorra!"

"Now's not a time to mention it," Steven said "but why are you referring to her by her username?"

Sam took some time to cool off before answering Steven's question.

"Because her name is not Leanne."

"Then who is she?" Chloe asked.

"She's an isomorphic algorithm. An ISO for short. She came out of the system six months ago."

A few collective gasps from the group erupted.

"An ISO? How is she living in the real world?" Lyle asked.

"She became human upon entering, I guess."

"You know what this means?" Justin said, a little excitedly.

"Yes. She knows the answer to some of the world's most unsolvable questions. Disease for example."

Ed walked up to Sam. "Why didn't you reveal this earlier?"

"Don't try to turn this around, Ed."

"Why, though?"

"I wanted her to be more comfortable in her new surroundings before she became the centre of attention to the whole world. And you're doing it again. You installed the MCP. You're the reason Quorra and Trey are gone."

"I didn't have anything to do with the MCP's actions. Artificial intelligence, remember? It thinks for itself."

Sam turned away in frustrated anger. Steven spoke up.

"So what now? The only guy who knows the layout of this place is now prisoner to this MCP."

Sam turned back to them.

"We find Alan. We rescue Quorra and Trey and shut down the MCP for good." he proclaimed. He walked right up to Ed.

"If anything happens to her, I swear-"

"If we get moving, that thought won't have to come to fruition, now, won't it?"

Sam walked past him and led the group down the path. The tensions between the two now more in the open.


	5. The City

"_It's beautiful, Sam." she said as the sun rose above them while driving down the near-barren highway._

"_If you think that is, You should see the sunset." he replied._

"_The sun goes away?"_

"_For a little while during the nights. Hold on." he said as they did a sharp left turn down towards the docks._

"_We're here."_

_They discharged from the Ducati and walked towards the storage units._

"_This is where you live?" she asked._

"_Yep."_

"_It's quite amazing." _

"_Trust me, it's not."_

_He unlocked the door and turned on the light as he walked in._

"_Feels like forever since I was last here." he muttered to himself._

_Quorra soaked in her surroundings, still quite amazed with the simplicity of the place._

_Marvin came running towards them, barking._

"_Oh wow, a dog!" she exclaimed._

"_Dad told you about them, didn't he?" he said as he picked up the animal._

"_Yes, he taught me of all the breeds. This one's a Boston Terrier, right?"_

"_Yep. His name's Marvin. Wanna pet him?" he extended the dog's head towards her._

_She backed away a little, nervously._

"_Come on, he doesn't bite."_

_She extended her hand towards the head and patted it on the head. It licked her hand._

"_It tickles." she giggled. Marv jumped down and ran off._

"_He likes you." Sam assured. "Make yourself at home."_

_He sat down on one of the chairs, while Quorra took a seat on the sofa. She picked up a book laying on the makeshift table in front of her._

"_Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?" she asked._

"_It's about two guys who go to Vegas seeking the American dream. It might not be your cup of-"_

"_I loved it!" she exclaimed, placing the book back down on the table._

"_tea. You sure read fast, that book was over 200 pages long."_

"_I read an encyclopaedia in 5 minutes once."_

"_Impressive."_

_She stood up to scan the other books on Sam's shelf._

"_You truly are fascinating."_

_She turned to him and smiled._

"Hey, are you alright?" Justin asked.

Sam snapped out of his trance. He was back in the Grid, walking down the path. Quorra was gone.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Sam was doing his bestto keep his emotions bottled in, not wanting to explode again like before. He was angry. Angry that Ed was trying to wipe out his father's empire. Mad that Alan was lost somewhere in the Grid. Mad that Quorra was abducted. The latter of his problems made him the angriest. He had grown fond of Quorra. And if anything were to happen to her-

But he kept it to himself. Struggling every minute to do so.

"Man' it looks Tokyo." Lyle commented as the group entered the mass city.

"Looks a little different than the designs." Chloe noted.

Sam looked around. He recognized certain buildings that were in Tron City the first time around. Certain streets and programs were there as well.

"What the hell is the "End of Line Club"? That wasn't in the designs either." Steven said.

The End of Line Club was the club the two-faced Castor ran. But it appeared as though it was destroyed.

"So were do we start? We've got alot of ground to cover. And very little time." Ed asked, looking at his watch. "7 hours, 56mins to be precise."

"Chloe, you are also a building designer for the game, what are some of the accessible buildings here?" Sam asked.

"The entire game is interactive, so every building-"

"God dammit." Sam muttered under his breathe.

"So what, we just knock on every door, asking if some old fart happened across?" Justin said disgruntled.

"He's not just some old fart!" Sam replied. "He's your boss. My friend. And we will knock on every door. If we have to."

Suddenly, an outburst of anguish and anger erupted around the corner from them. Justin looked at the group, then went to investigate. He looked up and down the street before walking to his left.

They waited for two minutes before Justin came speed walking back towards them.

"Run, run, run, RUN!" he shouted before switching into a sprint and grabbing Chloe by the arm.

A Recognizer hovered around the corner and began heading straight for them.

"Oh god. Not again." Sam said before running off after Justin, soon followed by the others.

"What does that thing do?" Lyle hollered as they ran for their lives.

The Recognizer was closing in on them and was right above Ed, but Sam pulled him out from under it and they rounded another corner.

As they began outrunning the Recognizer, a hooded figure emerged from a dimly lit alley.

"Over here!" it beckoned. Without too many options on them, they ran toward the figure and into the alley.

The Recognizer past by, leaving the group to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Who or whatever you are, thank you." Steven said.

The figure removed it's hood. It was Alan Bradley.

"Alan! It's so good to see you." Ed said.

"Likewise. Kevin always said the Grid was a fascinating place. But he never mentioned how dangerous it was."

Sam approached him and patted him on the shoulder. "Good to see you, man."

"Great! Now let's hall ass to the Portal!" Steven urged.

"We're not done here yet. We still need to save Trey and Quorra."

"Quorra's here?" Alan asked. "A little risqué, isn't it?"

"She insisted on coming. Not only that, but we need to shut down the MCP."

"MCP?"

"Care to enlighten him, Ed?"

Ed shuffled in his place. "The thing that sent you here, the Master Control Program-"

"Master Control Program? Do you have any idea what that almost did to the company 20 years ago? Why would you install something like that?"

"Not important at the moment. The MCP's AI is rapidly increasing to a point where we can no longer control it."

"That's what happened 20 years ago." Alan remarked.

"That is why it has to be destroyed." Sam interjected.

"So the MCP, does it have Quorra as well?"

"We believe so."

"Jesus." Alan muttered, walking away a little.

"What?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Do you know what could happen if the MCP find out that Quorra is an isomorphic algorithm?"

"No."

"If it can access Quorra's knowledge, it can use that to do anything. It could use that knowledge to enslave the human race, even."

A silence loomed.

Sam spoke up. "We have to get Quorra back. And fast."

"But where in this god-awful place could the MCP be at?" Chloe asked.

"Well, considering he is basically a dictator, it would incline he has a big ego." Steven inputed.

"And how does that help?" Ed asked.

"Big ego," he said, walking to the entrance of the alley, "big pad."

He pointed up at the tallest building on the Grid. A crackle of lightning occurred above of it.

"That just confirms it further." Lyle added.

Quorra and Trey were led into the room containing the MCP. Their hands were bound behind them, so they could not fight against the programs holding onto them.

"Identify yourselves, users." a loud, booming voice echoed.

"Quorra." she called. "And this is Trey."

"Why do you come to the Grid?" the voice continued.

"A colleague of ours is trapped here. We only wish to retrieve him."

"Does the other not speak?"

"I do." Trey replied.

"Send the one identified as Trey to the games. Leave the other here." a second voice called.

"Games?" Trey said, a little panicked as the guards latched back onto him and was escorted out.

"Sark, remove our guest's restraints, if you would.

A figure emerged and walked towards Quorra. She felt a bit uneasy as Sark unlocked her cuffs.

"Would you be so kind as to tell us where your other companions are?" the other voice asked.

"Are you the Master Control Program?" Quorra replied.

"I am."

"What is your intentions towards me and my friends?"

"Extermination."

"Why? We wish not to cause any problems towards you, we only wish to retrieve our friend and exit."

A laugh rumbled from the machine. "Humans have always tended to resort to pathetic begging. Except- you are not a human."

Sark looked at Quorra.

"You are a program. A more advanced one at that. Yes, an isomorphic algorithm to be exact."

"How do you know that?"

"I am all knowable. And you, my dear, have just become my new friend."

Quorra looked confused. "Sark, please so kind as to escort our guest to a confinement room until further notice. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Quorra."

Sark re-shackled her and led her out of the room.

Sam peeked his head around the corner of the alley to make sure nothing was coming towards them.

"Alright, come on." he motioned, guiding the group out into the street.

They flooded out of the alley, being flanked by Alan.

"You sure it's clear?" Justin asked.

"Yes, why?" Sam asked, before turning around to get his answer.

"Maybe you should check again." a guard had it's I-Disc held up at Justin's throat. Soon the group was surrounded.

"Any ideas of how to get out of this?" Ed asked.

"I'm thinking." Sam replied.

"To hell with that." Steven said, whipping out his I-Disc and charging at one of the guards.

"Don't!" Sam hollered, but was droned out by the sound of his cohorts engaging in battle.

"Stay back, Alan." he said, removing his own I-Disc and joining in.

The group's efforts were valiant, but they weren't no match for the program's training.

Lyle was picked up and slammed to the ground by a program. It was about to slash at him when an I-Disc sliced through it, derezzing it.

Sam looked towards the disc's source. A masked program join in the duel and within moments derezzed the attacking programs.

Lyle scooted away from it, not sure if it was out to destroy them as well.

The program looked at him, then turned to Alan and walked towards him, it's mask crawling off it's face.

"Greetings, user."

Alan gasped. "Tron."


	6. Exiled to the Outskirts

She was laying flat on a cold, steel table, strapped down, a large, metallic helmet clipped onto her head.

Sark lingered around her, activating various systems to prepare.

"What are you going to do to me, exactly?" Quorra asked.

"You've heard of the human treatment known as a lobotomy? Well, it's like that, only, we don't deal with the messy surgeries. We are simply going to extract the information in your mind and then-destroy your mind."

Quorra began to shake in fright.

"Oh, but don't worry, it's not going to happen now. We're just testing it to see if there's any glitches."

Quorra was inhaling and exhaling rapidly.

"Why, my dear girl, please try to relax." Sark said, with a hint of condensation. "This will only sting for a moment."

A pulsing vibration past into the helmet and Quorra let out a horrendous shriek of pain.

Sark deactivated the mechanism. "Hmm, I don't think it is hitting it's right shock ratio, I do apologize, allow me to try again."

He reactivated it, this time the vibration more severe, and Quorra's cries all the more painful.

"Wait, there are two Bradley's?" Lyle asked, confused.

"No, it's my program I created almost 30 years ago, Tron." Alan replied.

"So, the game is named after him?" Justin motioned to Tron. "Sir, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you."

"I had heard there were users on the Grid. I just didn't expect this many."

"Heard? When did you here this?" Sam asked.

"Not 5 minutes ago. Word was they captured two users. I was going in to rescue them."

"Quorra and Trey." Steven muttered.

"So, any ideas on how to get in? The front door isn't a good idea." Chloe said.

"And why not?" Steven asked while pulling out his I-Disc.

"You suggest we attempt to take on probably thousands of possible enemy programs with just the eight of ours' discs?" Ed replied.

Steven put his disc back. "I guess not."

"We do have the fiercest warrior on the Grid with us." Justin reminded. "Maybe he has a plan."

"Maybe he's already going through with it." Ed pointed out, as Tron ran to the alley beside the MCP building and pulled out his two I-Discs. He began jabbing them into the sides of the building and climbed up, using the jab points as a ladder.

"One at a time." he called.

Sam ran and followed Tron up the building, followed by Alan.

"Don't look down." Justin playfully warned to Lyle as they climbed up.

"Man, now is not the time." he replied.

Tron had shimmied up to the top , but climbed down to the top second floor.

"We enter through here." he said. Holding onto the ledge, he swung around and smashed through the glass window.

"Hey, Alan, did you used to have moves like that?" Sam asked, as he flung himself through the smashed window.

"I wish. Help me out here, would you?" he replied, holding out his hand for Sam to grab ahold of.

An alarm began blaring once Alan set foot in the room. "Intruders detected Intruders detected!" it wailed.

"We've been spotted." Tron informed. "Get behind me."

The door burst open and several programs flooded in. Tron easily cut them down.

Sark then enter and shot Tron with a Striker. Tron fell to the ground paralyzed.

"You have breached a private area. It is my duty to detain you all."

"You and what army?" Steven asked, taking out his I-Disc.

Sark drew his own and slashed Steven across the throat. Steven grabbed onto the gaping wound and fell to his knees. It took him a few moments before finally crumpling over, dead.

"Oh my god!" Chloe exclaimed, hiding her face behind Justin.

"What the hell, man?" Sam questioned.

"Take them. And clean this mess-"

A golden glow surrounded Steven's corpse. Soon the body was absorbed by the light and shot out of the window and upward.

"Never mind, then. Bring them to the Overlord."

The group was escorted out, with Sark bending over and picking Tron up himself.

"We meet again, _old friend_."

The group was guided into the massive room with the MCP placed in it.

"Well, the other members of the outside world. Why do you try to break into here?"

Sam was pushed in front of the MCP.

"Ah, young Flynn. I was associated with a Kevin Flynn many years ago."

"So I've heard."

"You and the 8 outside users-"

"7. You killed one of them."

"Ah yes. Steven Pepper, codename Koba. As I saw, he was too cocky for his own good. You have yet to answer my question, Flynn."

"You have two of our friends."

"One of them very dear to you, I sense."

Sam sighed. "Aside from the point. Where are they?"

"Well, the boy, Trey, I had sent to the games circuit. As for the girl,"

A loud shriek of pain erupted several floors below, but was audible at a high degree.

_Quorra_

"What are you doing to her? Let her go!" Sam demanded.

"I'm afraid I won't be doing that. See, the information within her mind is too valuable to allow humans to access it. I will extract it and dispose of her properly."

"Not unless I have something to say about it." Sam pulled out his I-Disc and prepared to attack, but was zapped by Sark with the Striker. Sark then aimed it at the rest of the group and rendered them incapacitated."Send the four on the right to the games. As for Flynn, exile him, the program and the other two to the outskirts of the Grid."

A group of programs picked up the paralyzed Chloe, Justin and Lyle and walked them out of the room.

The roof above the room opened and a massive launcher was wheeled in. Sam, Ed, Alan and Tron were loaded into a pod that was then loaded into the launcher. Sark activated it and fired the pod far into the distance.

"That should take care of them. For now, my lord."

"Sark, that user with the glasses, he seems to take a resemblance to your own programmer."

"He did, didn't he?"

"He could of come in use."

"Too late for that now."

"Well, then. Go see how the process with the ISO is going."

"As you wish."

Sark exited the room as another of Quorra's pain-filled cries echoed through.

The pod flew over the lit-up city and onward past the rocky cliffs. It began descending on the unfilled space of the Grid and crashed.

The pod door shot open and Sam jumped out. Ed and Tron came tumbling out, with Alan popping his head out, though remained in the pod.

"We best get moving." Sam said.

"Sam, wait." Ed called. "It would take hours to walk back."

"Then we better get started."

"We only have 5 hours left before that portal closes." Ed replied, pointing towards the bright blue light.

"What are you saying, Ed?"

"I'm saying it's over, Sam. We failed."


	7. Escape Finale

Trey awoke on the ground in what appeared to be a massive stadium. The cheering sound pounded on his eardrums as he sat up.

"Where the hell am I?"

"Trey? Trey, is that you?"

Trey looked around to see Chloe, Justin and Lyle standing a few feet away from him.

"Guys, it's good to see you." he said, strolling over to them.

"Where's Quorra?" Chloe asked.

"Where's the others?" Trey replied.

"I asked first."

"I don't know, the last time I saw _Leanne _was maybe a few hours."

"No, see, that's the cool thing, her name isn't Leanne, it's-"

"GREETING PROGRAMS." a voice boomed throughout the stadium.

"PREPARE TO BE ENTERTAINED, FOR TODAY WE HAVE 4 USERS IN THE GAMES TODAY."

The location upon which they stood elevated and soon split into four different platforms, raising them to different parts of the stadium.

"Disc Wars Match #1 User: Lyle vs. Poplow."

A burly program stepped off it's platform and stood in a ready position."

"Now that's just not fair." Lyle remarked.

Poplow removed his I-Disc and hurled it at Lyle, starting the duel.

The four men sat on the ground beside the crashed pod. Sam was looking down at the ground, defeated.

Alan and Tron were a little distance from him, chatting about old times.

Ed took this time to smooth things over with Sam. He stood up and walked towards him.

"Listen, Sam, I know things between me and you-"

"Ed, the problem between me and you is far from the top of my mind. We face being trapped in here. Forever. And I can't imagine what's happening to the others. I can't imagine what they're doing to Quorra."

"She's very special to you, isn't she?"

Sam remained silent, until slowly nodding.

"She makes it easier for me to get over my dad, you know."

"I think I do."

"You know, the last full conversation I had with her, she asked me if she was an inconvenience to me. Of course she isn't."

"You know, this reminds me of the last thing I said to my father. I told him I was going to work for ENCOM. Man, was he furious. He said that once I walked out that door, I could never come back. I would become the biggest disappointment to the Dillinger name."

"Then how would your plan work?"

"I don't know, some stupid fantasy consummated in my mind, I guess. If I showed him the "perfect" system could be destroyed, maybe he would finally warm back to me."

Sam looked at Ed. He never took him to be someone with father issues.

"Hey, you still have a chance to make things right with him. I think destroying a business isn't the best way to go about that.

Ed chuckled a little. "I guess not."

"You seriously think there's no fast way back?"

Ed thought for a minute. Then he shot to his feet.

"How the hell didn't I think of this before?"

"What?"

"We are outside entities. We have the power to alter our surroundings, add things in, and remove them."

Alan and Tron filed over.

"So what do you mean?"

Ed looked towards the empty grid space. Suddenly, four Light Cycles appeared.

"I mean, we better haul ass."

The men hopped onto the Light Cycles and raced off back into the Grid.

Quorra's energy was sapped to the point that she no longer screamed when the violent pulses of vibration raced through her body.

"99% of transfer complete." the computer announced.

"Don't worry, my dear, it is almost over."

Sark pulled the lever once more and the vibration entered Quorra's body. The vibration lasted a minute before ending and Quorra going limp on the table.

"Transfer 100% complete." the computer announced.

Sark looked at Quorra's lifeless body. "Tsk. It's a real shame too. Such a young and pretty girl."

Sark exited the room and the lights shut off, leaving Quorra in the dark.

The four Light Cycles raced across the rough, rocky terrain and into the brightly lit city.

"So what's the plan?" Alan called.

"I say we find the others, last I heard they were being sent to the games." Sam replied.

"The stadium is around the corner here." Tron said. "I can bide you some time while you pull the users out."

"Sounds like a plan." Sam said as they turned the corner and were in front of the stadium.

"Perhaps we should use the Light Cycles to make a quick escape." Ed suggested.

"Yes. We each grab one and race back to the building."

"Got it."

Tron lined his Cycle up so it faced the entrance to the stadium.

"On my go." he said.

Lyle jumped up in the air and drove his I-Disc into Poplow's back, derezzing him.

"Winner: Lyle."

"That's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed.

"3."

Chloe looked around her area for somewhere to hide. The female program, Lex, was very fierce and was lobbing her I-Disc at Chloe, who managed to outrun it.

"2."

Trey and Justin were in a teams match against two other programs.

"Which one you want, skinny or fatty?" Trey asked.

"Any time for rock, paper, scissors?" Justin replied.

An I-Disc grazed past the two, inches away from their faces.

"I'd say not." Trey answered.

"Do we retaliate?"

"No, we just stand here and look pretty for the damn audience! Throw your I-Disc at them."

"Don't have to be snippy." Justin replied, throwing his disc towards the programs.

"1. Go."

Tron revved the Cycle and darted through the entrance, flanked by Sam, Alan and Ed.

He located the arena where Chloe was and smashed through the glass casing, jumping off his Light Cycle and derezzing Lex.

"Take my hand." he offered. Chloe immediately grabbed it and they drove off.

Alan and Ed retrieved Lyle, while Sam went to assist Justin and Trey.

"You ladies need any help?"

"Illegal combatant on playing field." the announcer broadcasted.

"What do you think?" Justin asked.

"Sam hurled his I-Disc at the fat program and derezzed it.

Trey copied and derezzed the skinny one.

"Hop on."

Justin and Trey had a brief scuffle over who would ride on the back.

"Really? Now?"

Justin ultimately won, but Trey grabbed onto his head and sat on his shoulders.

The added weight caused Sam's Light Cycle to become wonky.

They went and met up with the others outside of the stadium, which upon stopping caused the three to fall off the Light Cycle.

"What now?" Chloe asked.

"Alan, take Chloe, Justin and Trey to the Portal. Get out quick. Me, Ed, Lyle and Tron will get Quorra and shut down the MCP."

"I'll activate a 20 minute destruction manifest, so it'll give us time to get back to the portal and destroy the system." Lyle announced.

Alan approached Tron. "Well, I guess this is goodbye. It was nice to finally meet you face to face, program."

"As I with you. User." Tron responded, shaking Alan's hand.

"Ok, Alan, you best get going."

Ed gave Justin his Light Cycle. Alan helped Chloe onto the back of his own and the four raced off towards the portal.

"Let's get moving." Sam said. Ed climbed onto the back of Tron's Light Cycle and they drove off back to the MCP building.

"Sark, 4 programs have just disrupted the disc wars." MCP stated.

"I know, sir."

"And now, an additional 4 are currently on their way to escape the Grid. Fortunately, they aren't a threat to me."

"So you're going to allow them to escape?"

"They don't hold anything I require. The other 4 are currently a threat to me."

"What do we do?"

"See how it plays out. Prepare the soldiers for a fight."

"Yes, my lord."

Sark pivoted and walked out of the room.

Sam and Lyle first arrived at the front of the building.

"Tron, take Lyle and help him locate the power supply for the MCP. Keep him safe. Me and Ed will locate Quorra and meet up with you."

Tron nodded and hurried Lyle into the building.

"The building is massive, where do we start?"

"She didn't sound too far from where the MCP was, maybe a few levels below."

Sam ran to where Tron had made jab points into the side of the building and climbed up.

"Come on, we're burning up time."

Ed followed and they were back in the building.

"Try to keep a low profile."

Lyle and Tron were hurrying through the building.

"The location of a computer system would normally be in a room big enough to need two doors." Lyle informed Tron.

Tron kicked open two doors and located a massive set of towers all hooked up to one source.

"At least the hard part is over." Lyle quipped.

Alan, Chloe, Justin and Trey arrived at the portal. Alan led the way and stepped under the beaming ray of light.

"How did Kev say he did this?" he said to himself, trying to recall Kevin Flynn's adventures in the Grid.

"Oh, yes." He removed his I-Disc and held it up.

"Hold onto me." He informed the others. They complied and grabbed onto a piece of Alan's clothing.

Alan let go of the disc and it flew up into the beam. Moments later, the group was absorbed and were standing back in the computer room at ENCOM.

Sam and Ed were keeping low, opening doors and peeking in. It took several minutes before they caught a break.

"Sam, in here." Ed whispered.

Sam rushed over to the door Ed had opened. Quorra was there, still laying on the metal table.

"Jesus." he muttered, darting in and was right at her side. "Quorra, Quorra, can you hear me?"

No response.

Ed was looking at the computer, where it was still beaming "Transfer 100% complete."

"I think her mind is gone. It's all in this computer."

"Try to find a way to reverse it."

Ed scrambled about the controls, scanning through the lights and buttons.

"Transfer 100% complete. Repeat process, Delete process, Revert process-here!" he selected the reverse option and soon the 100% began decreasing to 75%, then 41% and finally back to 0%.

Ed went to see if it worked. Quorra still didn't move.

"Come on, Q, come back to me."

Still no response.

"Come on. Come on."

Suddenly Quorra sprang up, but soon fell back flat as she was still restrained to the table. Sam and Ed removed them.

"Sam, what happened?" she asked.

"You almost left me." he said, embracing her in a hug.

Ed went to look out the door.

"You came back for me."

"Why would I leave?"

Quorra then lifted up and kissed Sam. They were lip locked for a good minute.

"Guys, we have to go." Ed interrupted.

"Right." Sam snapped back into reality and helped Quorra off the table. They ran out to a flurry of programs.

Lyle and Tron were working rigorously on disabling the MCP.

"I think I just about got it." Lyle said.

Suddenly an electric shock escaped from the system and electrocuted Lyle. It reduced him to mere ashes.

"God, no." Tron exclaimed, realizing he failed to protect a user. He ran from the room to locate the others.

Sam and Quorra was leading the charge through the stream of enemies with Ed defending the rear.

They finally met back up with Tron.

"Tron, how did it go?" Sam asked.

"Lyle's dead. Electrocuted."

"Shit." Ed muttered.

"What now?" Sam asked.

"I'd say we meet up with the MCP for one final showdown." Tron suggested.

They walked to the room where it sat.

"You users dare to intrude in front of me?"

"I think it's time we shut you down." Sam confronted.

"Is that so? And how do you plan to do that?"

Sark entered, a Striker in hand. Ed eyed it and a small box-like tower on the MCP's side.

"I think I know how." Ed said. He overwhelmed Sark and shot the Striker at the tower. It blew up.

"System failure. 30 minutes to self-destruction.

"You fools!" it screeched.

"We have to move, now." Quorra said, and the four raced out of the room.

Sark rose.

"Stop them!"

Sark nodded and ran after them.

They were back outside, their Light Cycles waiting. Sam and Quorra hopped onto one and began the charge to the portal. Ed and Tron followed.

Sark and a group of programs raced out of the building. They each pulled out a rod and morphed them into Light Cycles and gave chase.

"They're gaining on us!" Ed pointed out.

"Start weaving!" Sam ordered.

Tron took to the right, with Sam on the left.

"Be careful, Sam." Quorra reminded.

Two of the programs were in pursuit of Sam. He thought of a way to take them out.

"Go right!" Quorra instructed. Sam took a sharp right and created a barrier which derezzed the programs.

"Two down, four to go."

Tron took his Light Cycle and revved it into the air, upon landing he made a sharp left and eliminated another one of the programs.

"We've got 15 minutes!" Ed hollered.

Sark was still on their tail.

"Not this time."

He sped up until he was side by side with Sam and rammed him on the side.

He temporarily lost control, but regained it and sped away.

Sark looked to his right and saw Tron charging straight for him. He immediately hit the brakes and allowed the other program to be hit. It wasn't enough to keep Sark from being it. His Light Cycle was destroyed and he went skidding off.

"That's the last of them!" Quorra called, triumphantly.

They proceeded to the runway which the portal sat on. They leaped off the Light Cycles and ran to the stream of blue light.

"STOP." the thunderous voice of the MCP called.

The group stopped dead in their tracks.

"THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING. YOU COULD OF FOSTERED THE STRONGEST AND MOST PERFECT SYSTEM IN THE WORLD."

"How would that of benefited us? You wanted to use it to control the world, make the human race your slaves."

"YOU CANNOT LEAVE HERE! NOT ALIVE."

As Sark came racing towards them, a red and black flash of light surrounded him.

"The MCP is taking over his body." Tron pointed out.

Sark's eyes flashed deep red and began running towards them.

"Get to the portal!" Tron ordered. He ran to overtake the MCP-infected Sark. "I'll buy you time."

"There's only minutes left! You have to get clear of the area!" Sam yelled.

"It's too late for that! Now go!" Tron tackled Sark to the ground and held him down.

Quorra pulled Sam into the streak of blue light, followed by Ed. Sam lifted his disc into the eye of the portal. As it lifted higher, the MCP exploded, consuming the city in a woft of flames.

"Goodbye, Tron." Sam said, sadly as he, Quorra and Ed dematerialized. They faded into the real world just as they witness the flames derezz Sark and Tron.

The three launched backwards and onto the floor of the ENCOM computer room.

They were back.

"Sam, did you do it?" Alan asked as he helped Sam off the floor.

"Yes. The MCP was destroyed."

"What about Tron?"

Sam breathed a deep sigh. "Derezzed."

Alan's look turned into a saddened one. "Oh."

"I know."

"Well, he died doing what he always did."

"Fighting for the user."

Alan turned a smile.

Sam turned to see Chloe, Justin and Trey standing around.

"Wait, so how do we explain Steven? Lyle?" Ed asked.

Sam looked around the computer room.

"Scrap the game."

"What?"We can't tell them about this. How it transpired. Burn this room down. Say they were in it and were incinerated."

Ed nodded silently.

"Well," Trey loudly announced. "It is 8 in the morning. Anyone want to grab some breakfast?"

"I could use some breakfast." Justin replied.

They sat in the diner booth, watching the breaking news.

"ENCOM Chairman Alan Bradley announced some tragic news this morning: a fire occurred in one of the company's testing rooms that claimed the lives of two senior employees: Steven Pepper and Lyle Grover. The fire has been said to have engulfed the entire room and both men were incinerated. Full benefits will be paid to the families of the men. More on that at 12."

Ed raised his coffee mug. "To Lyle and Steven."

The group clinked the mugs. Sam stood up to take care of the bill. Ed followed.

"Listen, Sam, first thing Monday, I'm going to announce my resignation."

"That's not necessary, Ed."

"But-"

"Ed, it wouldn't be good business if an employee abruptly resigns the same week a tragic fire claim two others."

Ed silently nodded.

"We cool?"

"Yeah."

"Just don't pull anymore of this?"

"Yes, of course."

Sam smiled lightly, then turned and paid.

"You ready, Quorra?"

Quorra nodded and said goodbye to the group. She followed Sam out into the warm morning air.

"Sam?"

"Yes, Quorra?"

"I'm grateful you saved me."

"I would of done it anytime."

"I hope it wasn't too much of a-"

"Don't say it, Quorra. It will never be true." He took her by the shoulders and kissed her.

Justin and Trey looked out the window, taking pictures.

Sam pulled away and Quorra smiled.

"Come on." he said. "Let's go to the arcade." he flicked a quarter to her, which she caught.

"First game's on you."

Quorra laughed and hopped onto the back of the Ducati. He revved it up and drove off into the sunrise.

"It's still beautiful." she said as they drove through the traffic.

"It always will be." he replied. _It always will be_.

_**- Fin -**_


End file.
